1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to recreational games and, more particularly, to a multiple-sport apparatus that finds particular utility in the play of games of the baseball, tennis, racquetball, and soccer type. The apparatus of the present invention is especially suitable for use as a portable practice ball positioning device which enables a person to practice repetitively striking a practice ball located at one of a plurality of vertically preset locations, resulting in a realistic resistance and flight of the struck ball and a quick dampened return of the object to the same location.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Recreational games of the tetherball type are numerous. In this type of game, a flexible cord, or tether is connected at one end to a ball and at the other end to the upper end of an upright or vertically disposed pole or standard. The concept of such games, as for example, English tetherball and tether-tennis, is the winding, or wrapping, as a result of a player's striking the ball, of the cord around the pole. Play consists of hitting the ball so that it orbits, while suspended by the cord, in either direction about the standard according to any selected rules.
An example of one of these tetherball games and the apparatus used in its play is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,140, wherein a spherical hollow ball, such as a tennis ball, is tethered by a flexible, non-resilient cord to a pole or standard disposed in a stationary vertical position, which ball is struck by a paddle wielded by a player so that it orbits about the standard. Typically, the fastening relies on making a hole in the ball and using a peg or piece of wood or the like inside the ball as a stop to which the cord is attached.
Practice ball positioning and return devices are also well known. Muscle memory occurs when a particular motion is repeated a sufficient number of times with accompanying realistic sensations to verify the proper execution of the motion so as to enable a person to precisely reenact the motion when called upon in a competitive setting. In actual competition, the feel of striking the ball, the flight of the ball, and the location of landing of the ball all verify the proper execution of the striking motion. In a game such as tennis, a number of motions are required as a result of the location and speed of the returning tennis ball. Each motion is accompanied by different sensations imparted when striking the ball.
Heretofore, practice ball striking positioning devices have failed to provide portability and to duplicate the normal stroking position of the user or a realistic feel and flight of an object when impacted. The tennis tuner in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,880 issued to HADTKE on Jun. 7, 1977, for example, provided a ball attached to a combination of horizontal elastic and inelastic cords which necessarily require the striker to straddle one of the cords, thus preventing practice on a high positioned practice ball. Practice devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,316 to SZAFIANSKI, and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,247,072 to STOW, restrain the struck object along only one axis, in this case the vertical axis. There is a substantial danger that the return flight of the ball will fly directly toward the striker. If the ball is hard, like a baseball, injury can result.
A practicing device described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,957 to MEARS is also restrained along a single axis, and although the resistance may be varied by movement of the person, this device does not permit realistic movement of the person during the striking motion or a static resistance to the struck ball. Additionally, this device does not provide the ability to selectively position the ball along the vertical axis for different strokes. Tethered arrangements such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,379 to JUHASZ, No. 4,462,599 to BROWN, No. 4,216,960 to NICHOLLS, and No. 1,708,796 to LAWRENCE all merely suspend a ball from a tether.
There is therefore a need for a portable device which permits a person to practice repetitively striking an object located at one of a plurality of vertically preset locations while enjoying realistic resistance, flight, and a quick dampened return of the struck object to the same location.